Time for a challenge! This write the room activity requires more than a knowledge of CVC words. It also requires an understanding of the common consonant digraphs: sh, ch, th, wh, wr, and kn. I used each of these digraphs to begin simple short vowel words.

As soon as he saw the above page (yeah, I know the lighting isn’t good – it’s been a long winter), my kindergartner’s tune changed. “This is too HARD.”

There’s no pleasing this guy, I tell ya.

Even though my Six is suddenly reading quite well, his spelling lags behind (this is normal). So I knew we needed to review the spellings of the common beginning digraphs. I wrote them on the back of his page, one by one.

“What sound do the letters sh make? Right, /sh/. What sound do the letters ch make? Right, /ch/. Let’s look at these letters – wr. What sound do those letters make?” And on it went. It was a much better move to give him the spelling and ask for the sound rather than vice versa. I knew we needed to start with what he knew rather than quiz him on what he didn’t. That just leads to frustration – at least at our house.

As always, the download includes three different levels. And as always, we only did the most challenging version – which required him to look at each picture, identify the word, and unscramble the letters to write on his paper.

I recommend that you don’t follow my example of beginning with Level 3.

It was tough, and a little frustrating at times. It would have been better to start with level 1, in which learners simply copy the correct spellings. This way my Six would have been more familiar with the words and had a little review with those difficult beginning digraphs.

We could have moved on to level 2 or 3 on a different day.

All that said, it worked out just fine since I was there to help him identify each picture and assist as needed. About halfway through he stopped grumping and (grudgingly) accepted the challenge.

You’ll find the following words with corresponding pictures in the download:

shut

chip

knob

ship

whip

wrap

knit

shop

chop

shot

chin

thin

I hope you can use this freebie! Zip to the end of this post to find more free activities that reinforce beginning digraphs.

Thank you so much for providing free worksheet and games for teachers to use in their classrooms. I am so happy I found your scramble write the room activity. I am gonna use it next week in my kindergarten class. Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!!!!!!